IPL 2022: Venkatesh Iyer blasts 87 in KKR practice match ahead of T20 league opener vs CSK, WATCH

Venkatesh Iyer, who will once again open the innings, hit a brilliant 47-ball 87 in the Team Gold’s score of 204/6. He looked in touch in the highlight video released by KKR.

KKR all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer. (Photo: BCCI/IPL)

Kolkata Knight Riders all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer continue from where he left off in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 final as he blasted a 47-ball 87 in an intra-squad practice match on Wednesday (March 23). IPL 2021 runner-up KKR will open the 2022 campaign against MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday (March 26) 

The teams were divided into two groups – Team Gold and Team Purple. Venkatesh Iyer, who will once again open the innings, hit a brilliant 47-ball 87 in the Team Gold’s score of 204/6. He looked in touch in the short highlight video released by KKR. 

Team Purple had rode on contributions from Nitish Rana, Abhijeet Tomar and Rinku Singh to post 175 in the first innings. Abhijeet hit 26-ball 52 while Rana hit 29-ball 51 not out. Rinku, who re-signed with KKR, scored 44 off 22. Iyer also picked up 3/32 with the ball in the first innings 

Shreyas Iyer will be leading KKR in IPL 2022. Iyer, Rana, Pat Cummins, Varun Chakravarthy, Tim Southee are among confirmed selections in the final XI. Cummins and Aaron Finch are confirmed to miss the first five matches of the season due to international commitments. 

Watch highlights from KKR’s practice match here...  

The MS Dhoni-led side had defeated the two-time champions KKR to lift the IPL 2021 trophy. Meanwhile, Assistant coach and former Australia all-rounder David Hussey explained that reason behind the decision is that Iyer is a ‘born leader’. “Shreyas is a born leader, just the way he walks out and sort of commands airspace and he's got the respect from all the players. I think Pat, knowing him very well I think he’ll be a very good deputy and a good leader amongst the group and will lead from the front. But knowing Shreyas as captain in the past for Delhi (Capitals), he has very good cricket brain and a nice vision of how we want to play the game. So I think it’s a very smart decision from Brendon and management of KKR,” David Hussey said during an interaction with the media on Wednesday (March 23).